Underneath your clothes
by ijuska
Summary: A fresh graduate from law school travels to Barcelona to become a lawyer. She has always dreamed of living in this beautiful city. She has been through few relationships but still hopes for the love of her life to appear someday. She never thought it would be so soon. This love turns her whole world upside down and breaks all her images of a peaceful "normal" life. All human
1. Chapter 1

Hi, it´s been a long time since I started this story... since then I tried to improve my grammar, and after six months here is the story in the rewritten form :))) I hope you will like it :))) please let me know...I am curious... thanks to HermioneMusicPiano for reading and correcting all the chapters :))))

I do not own anything from Twilight...

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The plane from NY landed in Barcelona. Despite the early time, only a few people stepped out of the airport hall to the bus station. It was a pretty calm morning. The airport door opened and a young woman came out. She has just flown over the ocean and she wanted nothing more but to sleep. She had about 30 minutes to get to her new flat. First she had to see the rental agency but everything went perfectly. She was grateful that she bought it before the flight. It saved her many minutes of talking to various people.

In her thoughts, she went back to her flight. She hated flying so much but unfortunately there was no other way to get over the Atlantic Ocean, she always wanted to live in Spain. She dreamt of it for so long. She always claimed that she would like to live in Barcelona after her studies. The city had some unknown attraction to her and she couldn´t explain it. When she graduated from college, she decided to fulfill her dreams. Her dad, Charlie, had no problem with that, but Isabella could feel his sadness. Who wouldn´t if his daughter decided to leave the continent and fly to some distant city in Europe. Suddenly, he thought of his other daughter, Leanne. She lived with her mother in Phoenix and he saw her few times a year. Now, not only Leanne, but also Bella, would be so far away. Bella spent the last ten years in his house while attending the high school, or later coming home on weekends from the university.

Isabella took her baggage and headed to the rented apartment. How grateful she was for the internet connection. Due to it she managed to prepare everything online just by few clicks.

She applied the job in Barcelona online too. She had to go through a video conference in New York. They hired her as a junior lawyer in the legal department for a mobile phone company. She was so excited when she learned the news. Finally, her dream would become true. She found the right flat and put the key in the door. She opened the door and entered with her right foot.

She was amazed, because the flat was relatively small, only one room but perfect enough for one person to begin a new life. She loved the new furniture, it fitted exactly into her imagination of what the new flat should look like.

She began unpacking and in the evening she sat down on the couch and finally had a chance to relax. She thought about her life.

She turned 28 a few months ago, alone, thousand kilometres from her family, from dad, and yet farther from her mum and sister. She had no one in this city, but she did not regret her decisions. Indeed, she always dreamed of this…. Why is she so nervous?

She felt the big chance happening in her life. For many years she was just thinking and talking about her dream but now she was beginning to live it. No more plain talk. She has now the reality to live. Her ex boyfriend Jason appeared in her mind. They broke up few months ago, they had been together for almost two years, but he was not fond of her idea of moving abroad. One of the reasons why he wanted to stay was his desire to settle and have a family. But Bella always knew what she would like to do and therefore chose to break up with him.. Jason tried to persuade her but without success. She already made the decision and nothing would change that.

She wished to finally find herself and become fully independent. No man may ever hurt her. She wants to prove that she is strong enough to make it. She cannot let men hurt her. She already started to believe that she had no luck in love. Two long relationships already before her, but still….. she was still feeling awkward about them. No man has treated her as she deserved and tried to persuade her to do what he wanted. But she didn´t want to become just a puppet in the hand of another man.

She was sure that she arrived in Spain to be herself and prove her independence to everyone who had doubts about her. She looked up at the sun down and headed to the balcony. She looked out and saw the beautiful sea-coast in the far. The apartment was about 20 minutes from the sea and she was excited to walk first on the beach and enjoy the swimming in the sea and sunbathing afterwards. She was looking forward to the idea of having the sand between the fingers and enjoying the feeling. The summer was just beginning and the temperatures were already nice enough to spend time on the beach. This was one of the advantages of living on the sea-coast: Finally, a place where the winter temperatures do not fall too low. She hated cold as much as sports at school.

On the following morning she went to buy some supplies for the kitchen, she wanted to prepare a proper lunch. She was disgusted of eating just toast and fast food, she preferred normal meal and therefore went to search for some groceries. On the way there she called her dad and mum. It was a weird feeling to hear them in the distance of thousands kilometres but she knew it had to be that way.

She couldn't resist but had to go to see the coast, she was looking forward to it so much. She came back home and changed her dress. She headed to the beach later that day and headed for walk along the promenade. She loved the sea so much and everything seemed to be just perfect.

On the beach she was again deep in her thoughts as well as having put in her ear phones to listen to some music. She was a big fan of it and could listen to it anywhere. When she used to be younger, as many of her class mates from high school and later from law school figured out, she used to had a crush on some famous person. At that time she fell in love with a singer who also composed on the piano his own songs. His name was Edward Cullen and she had a really big crush on him since she was 16. She never met him personally, but at that time she used to own a huge collection of his songs, posters and other stuff that had been on sale. He stopped his music career few years ago and decided to live privately from then on and she hadn´t heard of him since. The newspapers claimed that he had moved to Europe, living somewhere in the country and composing and perhaps sometimes giving small performances there for the local population. For the whole 10 years, she had been in platonic love with him. Her boyfriends didn't care, for they weren´t interested too much in her hobbies. Now for two years, she was okay, she didn´t think of him at all, she still liked his songs. Chapter closed.

"This new life is gonna be something", she thought. She fell fast asleep and was surprised when the alarm clock rang in the morning. She put on her clothing and started her first work day. Her appointment with the boss was planned for 10 am so she had to be ready by then.

She was walking down the street, it wasn´t far from there. Few minutes later she could see the building in the distance. She told the receptionist her name and she accompanied her to the head of the legal department. She was surprised; it was a handsome young man, who introduced himself as David, behaved to her in a very friendly way.

"I'm afraid you will be the second female lawyer we will have here…..You´re gonna share the office with Bianca. She is Spanish and will show you anything you need" he said.

Isabella just nodded and smiled. He led her to the conference room where the others were already waiting. He introduced her: "Dear colleagues, I´d like to introduce you our new colleague, Ms. Isabella, Swan who arrived from the States. She will be working as a junior lawyer and will focus on revision of some contracts. I think she won´t have any problems to fit in as we all speak English in this department. I hope she´ll like the work with us and will like it here…." Then each of the people introduced and she noticed a bit older woman than she was. That must have been the one that David mentioned before, Bianca.

When they finished, Isabella thanked them and smiled. The woman came to her and said: "Welcome here…come with me,,,,,,I´ll show you our common office. We are here just two women but it doesn't mean we're worse than them" Isabella laughed and followed her. She introduced her to the secretary and then they entered the office.

Isabella got the cases in the contract field and she regarded it as a very interesting opportunity. Bianca was always helpful and she also liked a lot her boss and other colleagues too. She kept a bit distance from them because she didn´t know them yet but they all seemed to be glad to advise.

She had a lot of work, but she didn't mind it. She was used to hard work from doing her legal major. This all gave her the advantage of not having to think about her problems.

Finally after a month of hard work she had a free weekend. Finally she didn´t have to attend any meeting she could just take a nap, skype with her family or walk along the beach. There was a little rock above the sea with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean and she fell in love with this place. She wanted to return here as soon as possible. There, she gained a feeling that she could properly relax here.

Two weeks later, the whole working team from her department was invited by their boss to the pub. Bianca apologised because of a diner with her husband and children and so Bella went alone with all the male colleagues. She sat together next to David and Jose and listened to their comments about their wives. She just listened and liked the way they talked about them. Especially with David, she had the thoughts that he really adores his wife so much: "At least some men can show that they have feelings for their partners" the thought.

"What about you Isabella?" Jose asked.

"Well, I´m single and I plan to stay like that for a very long time…"

David wondered: "How is it possible that such a nice girl is lonely?"

She waved her hand dismissively: "It doesn't matter, I had a relationship during the years at law school but we broke up. Jason didn´t respect my decisions, he wanted to have family right after the graduation but I disagreed, so it was better we both went our own way…" She sighed: "This way it is better…"

She smiled sadly and David smiled: " You ll see how it goes….."

She nodded: "Yeah, I d say so…. I like being single for some time, I don´t have to feel bound to anybody and I can do whatever I want" She finished and held her glass of Coke and lifted it up to all her colleagues and toasted: "To our department guys….." Everybody agreed and did the same.

Later in the evening she went to buy another drink and while she was walking to the bar, she noticed a very nice blond man sitting alone at one table with a cup of coffee. He seemed to be reading some newspaper. She didn´t know that he had been watching her for some time. As she walked to the bar for another Coke, she looked up and saw him a bit more and she had to admit that she wasn´t really disappointed. He looked so handsome, blond, tall, slim, and cute also. He seemed to be flawless. Then her mind began protesting she planned to be independent, no man needed now. Men only bring troubles and she wanted to have a free life without any relationships. Or at least she thought so.

She had no idea that this man was watching her. It was Dr. Carlisle Cullen. He was a visiting professor at a local med university arriving from Berlin, Germany. He felt lonely in Spain and wanted to spend a nice Friday evening in the local pub. His colleagues recommended him this place and he decided to try it. He watched people talking and his eyes stayed at a very nice young woman sitting at the table with six men apparently older than her. He couldn´t move the look away from her. He was afraid she would notice him but she seemed to be deep in the conversation with her colleagues which allowed him to watch her more. He liked the way she was dressed, her gestures. He could imagine that he would invite her for a drink but did not dare. When she was passing by, she looked at him but he moved the eyes down at the same moment. He was just unsure at that moment.

He just turned 35 and was after a very hard break up after a 8 years long relationship. The women he proposed to promised to marry him but later he found out that she was cheating on him. It broke him down completely. He decided to change the position and moved from Chicago to Berlin. His cousin has lived there for a few months and Carlisle thought it would be a nice opportunity to teach at some different medical schools. He got many offers in Germany and France but decided to accept the one in Berlin to be close to his cousin. The Berlin University had the opportunity for the professors to visit partner universities and after some time he decided to apply too and got a chance to teach for one term in Barcelona. He needed some warmer climate and wanted the opportunity for morning swimming in the sea waves in the summer. He still wasn´t over the past relationship and felt still sad from everything. One year ago he was happy, looking forward to the wedding with the one he loved and then...

On that unfortunate day, he dismissed the class early because he wanted to spend the Friday afternoon with his fiancée. When he came to surprise her at work, he found her having some fun in her office with her boss. He broke up with her immediately and within few weeks he moved to Europe to escape everything. But the memories have stayed for the whole year.

This girl he saw in the pub was the first one he really seemed to be interested in for the last few months. But as soon as he decided to move a bit and ask her for a drink, he missed her leaving. When he was deep within his own thoughts, he didn´t notice that she was walking away. Perhaps one of the men could have been her boyfriend or partner, he didn´t know but when she was already gone, he couldn´t do anything more than to forget her. He won´t probably see her ever again.

Bella was tired and so she said good-bye to everyone. She paid for the drinks and left home. It was a pleasant August night and she was looking forward to being in her own bed. The week was full of hard work and she wanted to be ready for the morning walk on the beach. She was looking forward to her usual Saturday walk on the beach and perhaps some swimming too if the weather is nice. With these thoughts she fell asleep immediately.


	2. Chapter 2

On the following morning Bella woke up pretty late. She realised she had already missed breakfast. She looked out of the window and decided to go outside on the beach as she planned. She wanted to enjoy the first whole day on the beach and have some lunch at some beach restaurant. It was nice outside and she had already put on a swimsuit. She was looking forward being in the water. After the days full of hard work, she needed this refreshment.

She took her purse and locked the flat. It wasn´t far from the beach and in a few minutes she was walking on the beach road. She didn´t mind going alone. She really got used to being single and enjoyed it. At least nobody commented or cared, it was enough to hear from her parents and her sister Leanne.

She phoned home last night but dad didn´t answer. He probably took some more shifts, she thought.

She texted Leanne at night knowing that she would probably reply after work but the message arrived immediately: DAD IS HERE FOR VISIT... WE HAVE SPENT SOME TIME TOGETHER... HE INVITED MUM TO THE MOVIES YESTERDAY NIGHT...AFTER SO MANY YEARS..., IT IS SO NICE TO SEE THEM BOTH HERE AGAIN... HOW ARE YOU? ANY NICE MEN? WE ALL MISS YOU SO MUCH SWEETHEART...PS MY NEW BOSS SUCKS...

Bella had to laugh, her sister was always the same, still worried about her lack of dating.

She was walking on the beach letting the sand go through her toes and loved it. She felt so happy that she was finally living the life she dreamed of. This was what she always wanted. Living close to the sea and doing an interesting job.

She put on her sandals back on the feet and returned back on the pavement along the beach. There was a small hill above the beach and she wanted to go there to watch the beach from above. The sun was shining and she put her earphones again in the ears.

With the melody she dreamed up and decided to turn around to the rhythm of the song happily. The idea fell into her head suddenly and she did it. She felt so much happiness at that moment and didn´t care what was going on around her. She surprised herself more and more.

The "old" Bella would never do such spontaneous thing because she would be worried that somebody might think something "bad" about her. Just her sister Leanne could make up such silly ideas and she always loved to do spontaneous things but she herself would not try that.

What she didn´t know that she was passing a bench, on which dr. Carlisle Cullen was sitting. He was looking her way and she seemed familiar. He put the book away, and watched her through his sunglasses.

It was the one he wanted to meet and introduce himself but she had left the pub before he was courageous enough to do that. It was a surprise to him to meet her here.

He was watching her with pleasure as she walked and how light she moved enjoying every step. Then he noticed as she turned around, with her earphones in her ears, she seemed to be happy, she looked like a fairy in a summer flower dress and he couldn´t keep eyes off her.

The idyllic moment was interrupted by the flowing ball from the volleyball play field where some bunch of teenagers threw by mistake the ball the wrong way and it flew directly to her head.

She didn´t notice and walked the direction of the flying ball, Carlisle watching everything moved quickly and took her in his arms and put her on his lap. It was pretty fast and she couldn´t do anything.

She looked at him angrily and he pointed his finger the way the ball was heading and commented: "the ball"… she looked back to the teenagers, the ball and remained sitting on his knees still in shock a bit. She realised the situation and replied back to Carlisle: "It flew directly to my head…."

He agreed: "Exactly…."

She stood up immediately and wanted to thank him: "That is so kind of you Mister…." Then she realised that he speaks her own language, she was so much in shock she forgot to reply in Spanish.

But the man didn´t care and replied in her mother language: "Carlisle. Don´t worry, they are just silly teenagers…." She looked at him as he smiled and thought a bit.

Yes, it must have been him, the blond hair, the beautiful face…she knows him. She has heard those words from him already. But where? She knew the accent and his voice. She never forgot this face.

He saw her thinking about something and then looking back to the volleyball players who waved at her and apologised. Then one of them invited her to join them but she immediately refused. She remembered the guy sitting on the bench expecting her to say something. She looked at him: "I really want to thank you, you saved me… at first I thought you wanted to steal my wallet, I apologise…"

He just chuckled and asked: "I forgive you….. would you like to join me for lunch?"

She looked at him surprised: "You saved me and you want me to eat lunch with you?"

He picked up the book and stood up with a nice smile just for her: "It seems so"

She smiled too: "Ok, I was planning to have lunch anyway so we can go…."

He pointed at the closest beach restaurant and they sat down at a free table. The waitress looked at Carlisle and smiled as she led them to the table and he thanked her. Bella wanted to say something but he smiled at her and she completely melted.

He handed her the dining menu and she looked through it. She took out the iPod that she had in her pocket and laid it on the table. He commented: "What were you listening to?" She looked at him again she knew that, it must be that man, she met him many years ago...

He caught her lost in her thoughts again and waved his hand gently in front of her eyes: "Hey, ….. did anything happen?" She looked embarrassed and blushed immediately.

He was watching her and she seemed so cute with her cheeks turning red. Then his curiosity worked: "Sweetie, could you tell me your name? Or what shall I call you? A fairy?...you seemed like one to me when you were dancing."

She blushed again and said: "Oh, sorry, I was so much shocked with everything happening that I haven´t had proper moment to introduce myself. My name is Isabella Swan. I am a junior lawyer in a mobile phone company here."

She gave him her hand, he raised it to his lips and kissed it softly. She didn´t know what to say, nobody has ever treated her this way.

Carlisle handed her a glass of wine: "You already know my name, I m a doctor, I used to work in the ER department in Chicago but now I am a visiting professor from Berlin med school. I have been here for few months in an Exchange program teaching anatomy."

She nodded and at the moment he said the word ER and Chicago, she confirmed her suspicion. She definitely knew him. But she couldn´t help herself, she began remembering and had to smile a little bit. Carlisle noticed that and asked: "Is anything wrong?"

Bella replied: "No, but I'm afraid we have already met. I know you."

He wondered: "Have we?" She smiled at him and began explaining explaining...

_She remembered her sister, Leanne, who was two years older than her, always taking care of Bella when they were together._

_When their parents split up, Bella was 14. Their mother decided to move out and live separately, Bella wanted to stay with her dad, she was always kind of close to her father and didn´t want to leave him. So the sisters had to break apart._

_Leanne moved with her mother to Phoenix and Bella stayed with her dad in their house. The girls met every holidays and spent a lot of time together with their grandmother in Chicago._

_They stayed there every July till they graduated from high school. Leanne had her birthday at the end of June, she turned 18 and she got a present from her parents, they'd bought her the in-line skates. She always desired them and planned to take them to their grandmother's. She just felt sorry that Bella didn't want to join her._

_She was always kind of unattracted to doing any kind of sports except for swimming and Leanne understood her in a way. Bella was a magnet for dangers, she couldn´t keep balance properly. Sometimes she was so lost in her thoughts, she didn´t look to her feet and often stumbled over something. She was just like that and her sister just accepted it._

_But she wouldn´t have forgiven her if Bella hadn´t accompanied her to the park where she could try her new gift. She put them on her feet and Bella was watching her with smile._

_Leanne was going forward on the path and then back to Bella. She couldn´t help but giggle when she saw her sister smiling at every guy going around. Bella was always envying how naturally Leanne behaves, but Bella couldn´t be like that. Then Leanne disappeared for a moment and Bella sat down on the nearest bench and looked at her cell phone to see if anyone texted her._

_When she looked up, she saw her sister going in a very fast speed to her. Suddenly Leanne wanted to slow down and she did something wrong with her skate and fell down on the ground._

_Bella immediately ran to her and she saw her right hand full of blood. She looked at it and said: "It seems we have to go to the ER. It doesn´t look good." _

_Leanne smiled: " We have to change roles now, you´re the one who always falls on the ground" Bella nodded and helped her to change to normal shoes and together they walked to the nearest hospital. Her knee hurt her and her right elbow was full of blood and dirt._

_The nurse at the reception wrote down Leanne´s information and sent them to sit on the close-by chairs saying: "Please wait here, our new doctor, Doctor Cullen will take care of you in a moment, he was just sent to a very urgent case…he is new here, just out of school"_

_She pointed to the waiting room to sit down then Leanne whispered so quietly to Bella: "I don´t care he is young and cute. But I think I´m going to bleed out until he appears to look at my hand…."_

_Bella couldn´t do anything but laugh. Her sister could always make her no matter how serious the situation was._

_She wanted to comment the situation but suddenly a young blond doctor with shiny blue eyes appeared and came to the nurse. Then he looked back at them and professionally said: "Leanne Swan?" Leanne raised her hand and he opened the door of the examination room, letting the girls go in. Bella helped her sister to sit down on the chair and moved back to stand close to the door, watching the young doctor silently._

_Dr. Cullen seemed a bit moody to her. They didn´t know that this day wasn´t a good one for him. Someone complained and the boss told him about it. He felt he couldn´t defend himself, no matter he was doing everything he could. It was the first week of job after school and the day wasn´t over yet._

_He went from one patient to another and now he had two teenage girls still giggling at each other. This wasn´t too helpful to his mood either._

_He asked Leanne for her details: "What happened?" But Leanne didn´t want to tell him the truth, he didn´t seem to be in a very joking mood. She couldn´t say the truth. He wouldn´t understand that some guy invited her for a date and she wanted to tell her younger sister as soon as possible. Bella knew that already but instead of replying Leanne looked at Bella and they both giggled again._

_It confused Carlisle even more but he patiently checked her leg and when it seemed alright he began to clean the wound on her hand: „ You don´t need any stitches, it is gonna be alright in few days…. I just need to clean it…" Leanne looked at Bella again and another laughter._

_He looked up with a slightly uncomfortable look and asked: "Is there anything wrong?" _

_Leanne tried to be serious and shooked the head: "No…" but then she had to giggle again._

_Usually he wouldn´t care but today it´s been too much._

_It´s been a hard day and yet two teenage girls making fun of him. This was enough._

_He looked at Bella with a strict look and requested: "Could you please wait outside?" Bella wanted to stand up and leave but Leanne opposed: _

_"No, she has to be here with me."_

_Carlisle asked a little bit impatiently: "May I know why?"_

_Leanne smiled: "She is my younger sister, I have got to take care of her. She might not look after herself and fall down easily, she is so clumsy…"_

_Carlisle looked at her sister from head to toe unbelieving and she blushed immediately._

_He couldn´t belive it, they were incredible._

_He managed to stay calm: "Where are your parents?"_

_Bella replied quietly: "We are staying at our grandparents for summer vacation. Our mum and dad are….divorced."_

_She sighed._

_Normally he would say something to make her feel better but they both have made him so angry he couldn´t think properly._

_He tried to finish cleaning Leanne´s hand as soon as possible. He wanted to have them away._

_They were making him crazy._

_Again Leanne looked at Bella and another burst of laugh._

_That was enough. They just crossed his level of patience today._

_He removed his hands out of Leanne´s hand and they noticed his face being pretty angry:_

_"Could you please behave like adults and not like some silly teenagers? It would be better for you both if you all took the school books instead of in-line skates."_

_Bella looked up and commented quietly: "We both have straight A´s."_

_She blushed again and went to help her sister._

_Leanne stood up from the chair and with the help of Bella she took her things. Then she said sharp to angry Carlisle:_

_"I am 18. I can do what I want to. You shouldn´t be educating us, you are just a few years older...so you can keep your morals to yourself."_

_Then she turned to Bella: "Come sweetie, doctor Cullen has probably had some bad sleep, so he has to vent his anger on two poor girls"_

_He looked at them with disbelief and shouted: "OUT !"_

_Bella got scared and opened the door immediately. In few seconds the door closed and he was alone in the room."_

Bella finished talking and was curious about his reaction. He didn´t interrupt her and she hoped he wouldn´t stand up and leave immediately. She hoped he night have forgotten about it.

She looked at Carlisle´s surprised eyes as he watched her and couldn´t belive it.

He didn´t recognise her, but he surely knew that something like that had really happened.

It made him laugh: "That is really funny…. I must have seemed to you as an old naughty doctor…."

Bella had to laugh at his comparison and he liked the sound of her voice

He smiled back: "So, Isabella, nice to meet you again…I hope we can start for the second time without shouting…"

She nodded: "Yeah, I´d say so…and please...call me Bella..." He nodded and smiled again. She was first worried that he wouldn´t want to stay with. But he didn´t show any sign of leaving so she sighed.

He noticed: "Did anything happen?"

She looked at him: "I thought you would leave immediately..."

He raised an eyebrow: " Why ?"

Bella didn´t know what to say: "You know, me and my sister... we ... we did terrible things when we were younger...but she was always protecting me..."

He looked at her and touched gently her hand that was still on the table: " Look, Isabella..."

She corrected automatically: " Bella..."

He smiled: " Yes, Bella,... that was some 12 years ago...you see I didn't even remember...and we all did stupid things when we were younger..."

She sighed with relief and he smirked: "You only wanted to make young new doctor feel a bit uncomfortable..."

She defended: " No, we didn´t..."

He smiled and caressed her hand: " I was just teasing you, it is the past... let´s get back to our desert, shall we?"

He moved back and the waitress served them the ice cream on their table.

He looked at her as she was blushing again, and it was really cute for him. He still couldn´t understand how he could react to her the way he did few years ago. Then he reminded that the beginnings in his profession as a doctor in the ER. It wasn´t very easy and sometimes he was a bit "moody".

They talked during the lunch and suddenly his cell phone began ringing. Carlisle smiled and replied:

"Yes? How are you, Ed?..."

He looked surprised: "Are you here?...Yes, I am not teaching right now, I m free…. Ok, I will be there in few minutes, can you wait, please?... Yes, I´m coming…don´t worry….."

He hang up and looked up to Bella who was silently sitting and listening. He began apologising: "I´m sorry but I have to go…..you know…my cousin is waiting for me…"

She smiled: "I understand…thank you for the nice time…I was really enjoying it…" but inside she was sad. She couldn´t understand, it was just a lunch. She wished him to stay.

Carlisle said: "No, I thank to you…"Then he asked: "Do you think you would…"

She looked at him with hope in her voice: "What?"

He continued: "Would you like to repeat it sometimes?"

Inside she was screaming: "yes yes yes….." she was so happy but pretended the calmness. The blushing revealed her.

He seemed to be pleased but still waited for her reply impatiently "please..say yes…" he thought and she added: "I´d love to…."

And on the piece of the napkin she wrote him her mobile number…

Then she said: "I know that you are very busy but when you have time….."

She smiled shyly.

"Of course..I´m gonna call but now I have to run otherwise my cousin will say something…."

"Run…that would be bad…."

He sent her an air kiss with his hand and headed out of the restaurant.  
Isabella left too and went home, she put on the earphones and listened to Shakira and she had to sing too.

She was so content at the moment. It felt so nice to spend the afternoon in his company. He was so hot and she loved his perfect smile. She just felt sorry that they didn´t talk about anything exact. He might never call her again.

This made her sad again. In the following minute the phone rang and she picked it up.

It was David, her boss, who called because of some problem.

Isabella agreed to help him and put the problem with Carlisle to the back of her mind.

Carlisle went back to his flat where Edward was sitting on the stairs:

"Edward, what have you been doing here?"

Edward just looked around: "Please, Carlisle, I need your help….."

He wondered but he could see that his cousin wasn´t in a very good condition.

He seemed tired, stressed out and probably hasn´t been sleeping properly for a few days.

He invited him in, and while he was preparing the coffee, he asked: "How is Esme?"

Edward looked up from his thoughts: "Who? Oh you mean my sister, she is fine, she is happy with Kyle, they are trying for their first child….."

Carlisle smiled and then Edward began speaking again: "I fired him…"

He didn´t get it at first: "Fired? Who?"

Edward began explaining: "My manager… We have been planning some concerts and we disagreed on many things…"

Carlisle looked at him: "So hire another one….. there are plenty of them waiting…..you just need to point at them..."

Edward stood up with hands in his pockets: "I don´t know, I don´t trust them, they are just leeches that want to get money from me….. I need somebody I can trust to be my manager."

Carlisle already knew where he was heading to. He used to help him with some issues when he was on the top of his career. During the weekends he was free. He was doing all the organisation stuff around his tour. At one of these shows he met his ex-fiance. He reminded everything and then looked back at Edward:

"No, I refuse to be involved again… sorry, Edward, you have to find somebody else…"

Edward came closer: "Carlisle, please….I am desperate…. The tour should start in a few months. I need somebody to rely on…."

He looked at his cousin and he seemed to be really down. He didn´t trust many people.

The truth was, Edward helped him a lot. He accommodated him in his flat when he left Chicago and didn´t ask for any details until he was ready to share.

He thought for a moment and added: "Ok, I agree…..but...just weekends alright?"

Edward seemed to be pleased: "Yes, you are so kind, thank you so much, you won´t regret it….."

Carlisle just silently nodded: "Yes, I am sure…. I won´t."

Just the idea of another job didn't please him much.

He had another plans he was devoted to.

He wanted so much to know Isabella better and certainly invite her for another date.

But he knew that his own life had to wait for some time.

Now he has to help Edward, he owes it to him.


	3. Chapter 3

The weeks slowly passed and Carlisle was too busy to think about anything. He was in the middle of the term at school, the students had to be tested and so he spent every evening grading their essays, quizzes, exams and it seemed never-ending. So many times he was playing with the cell phone and wanted to call Bella, but he didn´t do it.

Last time he already had the number in the phone and wanted to click on the green button. Suddenly, he heard a ring at the door. His neighbour´s TV went wrong and the old man came to ask Carlisle whether he could help him. He didn´t refuse.

When he came back an hour later, it was already too late to call her. He didn´t want her to feel uncomfortable because of his phone calls around 11pm. Some people regard it as impolite.

He often thought about her, but he was really busy these days. From Monday till Friday he was usually at school, those students who didn´t pass the written exams were coming to his office to answer additional questions.

During the weekends he was constantly on the phone with Edward and helped him with organisation of his concerts and necessary promotion.

Edward didn´t want any big shows as it used to be 10 years ago.

He preferred small cosy clubs instead just with piano and few musicians together.

Finally the last Friday full of exams and consultations were over and Carlisle was looking forward to the upcoming weekend.

It has been few days since he last saw Isabella and he began missing her really much. He knew it wasn´t fair from him not to call her and presumed that she would be angry. He planned to call as soon as possible, still held the idea in his mind.

On Friday afternoon he opened the internet and logged in his account on Facebook.

He didn´t go there very often, after the break up with his ex he almost refused to use the FB at all. Carlisle and Claire had many common friends and he was not willing to explain anything to each of them.

When he looked at the screen he could see the message window blinking at him like crazy.

Ten messages from Claire and two from their friends. He didn´t want to read them at all. He went finally over the first one and deleted all of them. Claire begged him to come back, she wanted to talk about everything. But he didn´t want to do that. Not anymore.

Claire worked as a PR manager for one recording company.

Carlisle met her while he did some business concerning Edward´s new CD many years ago. Now, almost 10 months after their break up and his escape from Chicago, he hoped to organise his own life again with no more Claire in it.

Another message came from their common friend Tom.

He liked the guy, they had gone to various restaurants with him and his wife.

In the message Tom was curious about Carlisle´s new position and so he decided to reply. Tom was online at the same time and they had a pretty long online chat.

Isabella was also busy at work. On Monday she came to work in a very nice mood.

She spent the Saturday lunch with a very nice guy, she liked his looks. The blond hair seemed to fit him very much and she hoped they would meet again and perhaps go out. She smiled as Bianca came in the office in the morning.

She remembered that Bianca´s oldest daughter Lucia came home for the weekend and was curious about her impressions from university.

"How is your daughter doing at the university?" She expected an exciting reaction but Bianca frowned a bit. That surprised her and asked: "What happened? I thought you said last week that she was satisfied with her studies."

Bianca nodded: "Yes, she is….. but would you believe this? They have a new professor for this term for anatomy I think and all I heard the whole weekend was…Dr. Cullen here…Dr. Cullen there…..Dr. Cullen this…..I had the feeling that all she cares for is some handsome blond Dr. Cullen…My daughter never had a crush on her teacher and this is too much even for me." Bella stared at her and couldn´t believe her own eyes.

Bianca´s daughter was a student of the guy that she adores too…First, she wanted to say everything to her colleague but now it was clear she would rather be silent. After the weekend spent with Lucia, Bianca wouldn´t surely understand her feelings for Dr. Cullen.

Bianca opened the window and asked: "What about your weekend? You smiled when I entered the room so it must have been something really cool…."

Bella waved the hand: "No, nothing special…I talked to my parents, my dad stays for few days with my mother and my older sister… so he didn´t pick up the phone. I spent the Saturday sunbathing on the beach and in the evening David phoned. We worked the whole Sunday preparing some materials for today´s meeting."

Bianca sat back on her chair: "sooo…away with the weird Dr. Cullen…. let´s get into some work…. I´ll give you my part to look at..."

Few more days passed. She hoped he would contact her. Every afternoon she was walking home from work imagining of how they would go out. She knew deep inside that these "dreams" would never become reality because he has no interest. He just wanted to have fun.

When nothing happened, she lost the hope. She was disappointed because she really liked him but on the other hand she was happy that they had gone just to one lunch. If they did 'something more, it would be much harder to forget. And if he doesn´t want to see her, it´s his problem.

On Saturday she was sitting at her laptop logged in Skype and talking to Leanne. And because Leanne knew her little sister too well, she could see that something happened: "Come on, Bella, tell me….you know that I will get it out of you anyway…"

Bella smiled sadly: "Yes, I know….I just…." she wanted to finish but suddenly she could hear noise next to Leanne. On the laptop screen in the web camera she saw her mum and dad sitting on the sofa next to Leanne. She got excited: "Mum? Dad? It is so great to see you again…I miss you all…"

Her mother wiped the tear out of her face: "Hi sweetie, we miss you too….so much.. How are you? How is work? Tell us everything….." Bella began talking about her colleagues and about the life close to the beach. She tried to sound as persuasive as possible. She didn´t want her parents to think that she is unhappy when this is what she had always wanted.

"I like it here really, everything is so nice. People are so warm-hearted and my boss is a very nice guy. I like the way he talks to us and he makes us a good team. I like it, belive me…."

Charlie added: "We do believe you, sweetie….Just…. we miss you all here." Bella´s mother suddenly held his hand and Bella wondered.

She could see Leanne´s expression and hoped that her assumptions are correct. Charlie continued: "Bells, we wanted to tell you…that me and your mum have just decided….that we will try it again…..second chance….."

Bella felt an immediate happiness: "Wow, that is wonderful news…..congratulations…..I´m so happy for you both…..I wish I could see you soon…"

Her mum commented: "We´ll figure out something sweetie….. It´s gonna be your birthday soon…."

Bella replied: "Yes, mum, I know …."

They were talking for few minutes more and then Leanne remained alone at her laptop: "So Bella….come on…..tell me…..what´s wrong?"

Bella started slowly: "Well, I met somebody…he is a doctor… and you know him…we met him many years ago at ER. You fell on the ground after you got the inline – skates…remember?"

Leanne was lost in her thoughts but then she realised what Bella had just said and stared: "What? You do not mean that arrogant blond mentoring doctor, do you?"

Bella nodded silently. Leanne still couldn´t get it:

"I thought you had some good taste to guys…."

Bella defended herself: "Yes, I do….he is very handsome. He has grown older and looks really good….."

Leanne began smiling: "I see…..so what has the moron done this time?"

Bella frowned: "Don´t talk about him like that… he was very kind…..he helped me and invited me for lunch…"

Leanne grinned: "So where is the problem?"

Bella hesitated: "He promised to call and it´s been more than two weeks…." And wanted to continue.

Leanne seemed to understand and finished: "But he hasn´t called since then and you feel sad…." Bella nodded and a single tear has fallen over her face.

Leanne wanted to make her sister smile again and asked: "And what if you…. contact him?"

Bella replied: "What?...No, no way…I´m not going anywhere…"

Leanne disagreed: "Look, you have nothing to lose; you will know if he means it after you both talk…..come on, it´s just up to you…."

Bella was uncertain about it but Leanne could always persuade her: "Bella, just go to him, you said he was a doctor. So you know where to go….. go there... or I swear, I´ll buy a plane ticket and go to his private practice a tell him what I think. It wouldn´t be for the first time since we have already had a very "nice" talk…."

Bella giggled when she imagined Leanne´s threat: "OK, I will go there….I´ll try to do it….and I´ll let you know the result."

This caused a real smile on her sister´s face: „ All right, sister, take your time….I´ll be waiting for your report….And I´m sure it is going to be fine…" Bella just shrugged.

In the evening when she went to bed, she was still hesitating about it. The "former" Bella would not be able to do such thing. But Leanne was right, she had to try to know what happened. She had better mood also because of the news the parents told her. She was so happy for them. Both girls were suffering because of the divorce even though their parents still got on very well.

In the morning she took out her diary, checked the necessary meetings. On Thursday she could go to the university to find his office and talk. She planned to take the afternoon free and was looking forward to that. She was sure there would be no relationship. But she was just curious what she had done wrong. And at the end of the sisters´ talk Leanne mentioned one important piece of advice. What if he lost her number and couldn´t find it?

Carlisle was on the way to his work on Thursday. He had one class and then two hours full of consultations. After them he was already decided to call Bella. He hoped she would forgive for not calling her for two weeks. The class was over and the way to his office he met the head of the department who wanted to discuss some topic. Therefore he didn´t get to his office in time.

His friend Tom met his ex girlfriend Claire and revealed her the information about the university at which Carlisle teaches. She immediately decided to go there and gain him back no matter what. Right from the airport she travelled to the medical university. She found the office pretty easily and the colleague of Carlisle who was just coming out of the office let her in. She told him about their engagement and showed him the diamond ring.

He saw no reasons in suspecting her, he just wondered why Carlisle hadn´t told his colleagues earlier. She sat down on the sofa and waited for him to come.

Meanwhile Bella was standing in front of the university building and with the help of few students she managed to find out where his office was. She came closer to the door and saw his name on the door label.

She felt the excitement and hoped it all would turn out positively for both of them. She knocked and expected him to open. Instead of Carlisle she could see a tall thin black hair woman with heavy make up watching her from head to toe.

She wanted to say something but the woman replied: "I apologise, but Dr. Cullen won´t be doing any consultation hours today… Please come tomorrow or after weekend. I would like to take my fianceé out to the restaurant for some nice diner." And she closed the door immediately.

Bella was stumped, she would expect anything but that. That is certainly the reason he hasn´t called. He is engaged to this "Queen" She was so beautiful, so sexy and attractive. Bella knew she had no chance against such woman. She walked home slowly and wrote down a message for Leanne. She desperately needed to talk to her.

Carlisle was heading towards his office and hoped that finally he would go to see Bella soon.

He was missing her smile and blushing every time he said something nice to her. He was hesitating about the restaurant they would go to and got completely lost in his thoughts which were all connected only to one brown-haired young woman.

When he took the handle of the door, he was surprised that it was unlocked. As soon as he opened, he was shocked from seeing his Claire on his sofa. He closed the door and said with anger in his voice: "What are you doing here? It is over….."

She stood up and went closer to him: "Carlisle, please….. I thought we could talk…."

She went closer to him and touched his arm: "Honey, please…..let me explain….Ok, I did a very big mistake, I admit…..But I love you still so much….. please….let´s go for a diner and talk about us?"

She slowly moved in front of him and waited for his reaction. He moved her hand away and said with disgust: "Claire, it´s over, if you had loved me, you would have never cheated on me. Sorry, it doesn´t work like this in the world of love. For me cheating is simply unacceptable…." He turned around and opened her the door: "Please go now…." She wanted to move to him and hugged him but he refused with the hand: "It´s over….go now….bye".

He didn´t wait for her reaction and closed the door immediately.

It was too much for him, he sat down on the chair. He put the head in his hands and had to recuperate from the sudden situation.

He could expect something like that, when he told Tom the place where he teaches.

But on the other hand he was happy that it was over. Claire was away from his life. It was time to begin something new, finally.

Leanne logged to Skype and was shocked when she saw her sister: "Bella, come on…"

She wiped the tears: "Yes, I know, I shouldn´t cry, he isn´t worth it… I should have expected that something was wrong."

Leanne was silent and so Bella continued: "Look, I have almost believed somebody who is engaged…. And the woman was really beautiful, so glamorous, and foremost sexy..., how could I ever compare to somebody like that?"

Leanne disagreed: "Look, sister, I don´t know what you think of yourself, but stop talking like that. You´re beautiful as you are. And... those who cannot see it, are idiots."

Bella smiled: "Thanks. But you know, I don´t want to be just the mistress of somebody."

Leanne nodded: "I know, sweetie, I know…."

Bella replied: "At least I don´t have to worry anymore what I did wrong."

Leanne agreed: "Exactly, because you did nothing wrong… He did….He lied to you…So don´t make any remorse. It was his fault. Not yours…"

Bella agreed but she was still sad. She was angry with him for not telling her the truth. The feeling was growing inside her and she was angry at herself that again she trusted Carlisle. In the end he was the same as other guys she met.

Later at night Bella went to bed and was thinking about it all. She never expected he could be engaged, she still hoped that….

When she arrived to Barcelona few weeks ago, she made a promise that she would be happy even single. She should return to this phase and keep it in her heart.

Then nothing can hurt her as this man who she really liked even though they spent together just one afternoon.

In the morning she was doing some paperwork for Monday´s presentation.

As soon as she finished after lunch, she took her cell phone and planned to text her sister. She wanted to thank her for yesterday´s talk, they finished really late at night. No matter what she was so grateful to have her best friend in her sister.

She always understood her or at least tired. She was playing with the phone and suddenly she saw an uknown number. She immediately accepted: "Isabella Swan, speaking…"

As soon as she heard the voice, she felt deep shock: "Hi, Bella, this is Carlisle….I hope you still remember me." She couldn´t say anything, she was just stuck. She cried because of him few times, met his fiancée and he just calls her like that. She didn´t understand this at all.

When she didn´t say anything, he continued:"I apologise for not calling earlier, I was busy, sorry….would you accept my invitation for diner? Could we meet on the beach in thirty minutes?"

She was still in shock: "What? Yes, I mean…diner? Ok…. I´ll be there…."

And he smiled: "Ok, you won´t regret…so see ya…." And hang up. She was still looking confused at her cell phone. Could it be him? What game is he playing with her? She didn´t get it but her curiosity pushed her to the beach for the meeting.

On the way to the beach she was hesitating. Should she really go? She promised, yes, but he wasn´t telling the truth either.

Now he calls after two weeks, invites her for a date and her? She goes there…..She should tell him immediately what she thinks about him, turn around and leave home.

But these strong resolutions slowly disappeared as she was coming closer to the meeting point.

As she was coming closer, she could see a large blanket, a basket with meal and Carlisle sitting in the middle of the blanket. When he could see her, he stood up and headed to her. He looked absolutely georgeous.

She couldn´t suddenly move her eyes of him. She had to smile when she saw his beautiful face.

He greeted her with the kiss on her hand and smiled: "So you came…."

He led her to sit down and began taking out things out of the basket. He was really charming, she was so fascinated. He was so gentle, giving her a piece of grapes to taste as the appetizer.

She felt wonderfully as she was watching him. She took another piece from the plate and put also one to his mouth. He looked her deep in the eyes and couldn´t resist to move closer to taste her sweet lips.

They touched and she loved it completely, he was so adorable. She loved being hugged around her waist.

His hands felt so good and she was feeling incredible in the arms of this man.

Despite how angry she was at him, he really could kiss perfectly.

She moved a bit away from him and he understood that she needs some time.

They finished meal by feeding each other and she admitted that she had never done anything so beautiful.

After the meal it was getting cold and so they stood up. He helped her up to her feet, packed everything into the basket and they headed for walk along the beach way. He was telling her about the students and their midterms because he wanted her to understand the reason why he didn´t call.

She felt sad because she knew that he wasn´t sincere. He didn´t mention his fiancée at all and that made her sad.

She didn´t know where they were going, she has never been in this part of the city.

She could see it was just close to the beach and she knew that probably she will need to call for a cab to take her home.

She didn´t want to get lost. Suddenly he stopped and looked into her eyes: "Would you like to go for a drink? We could have some wine.." She looked into his eyes and felt so fascinated by them.

She knew she shouldn´t go into his place but couldn´t help it.

She followed him into the house. He opened a bottle of wine and gave Bella a glass with the drink.

She tasted and it was really good. She was looking into his collection of CDs and noticed her favourite one from Shakira. She looked at him and he asked: "Have you found anything interesting?"

She handed him the CD, he looked closed and opened the lid. He gave the CD into the player and in few moments she could hear beautiful lyrics of her favourite song Underneath your clothes.

He came closer to Bella, took her glass away and looked at her: "Great choice of the song. I wouldn´t choose better myself. Wanna dance?" She looked at him and wondered, he had the ability to fool her completely.

She didn´t know how it happened but suddenly she had her hands around his neck and he put his on her hips.

He moved her closer to him and she didn´t protest. She had to must have made some spell on her to charm her, he made her do what he wanted. They moved slowly to the rhythm of the ballad and both enjoyed it completely.

This was something different from what she knew.

She had already danced with Jason in some club, but this was something else.

She felt so attracted to him, she wasn´t able to think clearly. Suddenly he gently pressed his lips on hers and moved her yet closer to him.

The music kept on playing and they were enjoying each other´s proximity. She felt completely breathless: "I must have fallen out of my mind" She thought inside her head and caressed his back.

He was also enjoying it as much as she did. He hoped that she could be the right one for a new relationship.

He wished she would be. He loved the way she reacted to his kisses, to his touch. It all felt just so natural.

He knew this was their second date and he should stop. But he couldn´t help it. He wanted her now. However, he wanted to wait for her impulse that she also wants more. He didn´t want to push her into something.

During the music he was moving with her to his bed not stopping their kisses.

She didn´t protest. He sat down on the bed looked at her with question in his eyes.

She didn´t hesitate too long, kissed him again and moved to the bed closer to him. He couldn´t resist and his fingers moved to her dress. He began opening it and revealed the beautiful soft skin. He moved his lips on her neck and began kissing the every inch of her young adorable body. Bella couldn´t help but moan. Somehow he knew where to touch her and it felt just so good. She didn´t stop him despite knowing this wasn´t right. She couldn´t stop him. This was really addictive and she never felt such passion with him. In the meantime she was holding him around the back touching gently every place moving slowly to his nipples. When all pieces of the clothes were down on the ground, she wanted to remind him about the protection. She didn´t want to do another silly thing. But as if he could hear her mind, he moved to the night table for the small box. The whole experience of their first lovemaking was so breathtaking for Bella. He was creating in her waves of passion she had never known and his every move was causing her indescribable feelings. She loved this. She could get used to this. This was definitely the best sexual experience in her life. He must have be an expert.

When she fell asleep, he was watching her. He fell in love with her and wanted them to be together.

He hoped that she feels the same for him, she seemed so pleased.

She might have forgiven him the delay in the phone call.

Perhaps from now on everything is going to be better. She was so beautiful, wonderful long brown hair, beautiful warm brown eyes and an adoring smile. He could watch her for days.

While falling asleep, he felt so nice, finally content with his life again after many months of loneliness. He hoped this princess could fulfil his life with happiness again.

Bella woke up in the early morning first not knowing where she was.

Then she remembered whose bed she spent the night in and also realised what happened.

She was angry at herself. So she did it, she slept with an engaged guy.

He is certainly going to get married soon and she let herself be fooled and she had sex with him. How could she be that stupid?

She should have kicked his ass at the beach and not spent the night with him. She must have gone completely crazy. She was disgusted with her own behaviour.

It was pretty early and she wanted to leave this place immediately. She sneaked out of the bed silently and began searching for her own clothing.

At that moment he woke up and looked at her yet a bit sleepy: "Sweetie, where are you going? I thought we could have breakfast together, talk and then go outside….."

He watched her with confused look and saw that she wanted to disappear immediately. She confirmed it when she said: "Look, it was a very nice night, but it was a mistake, it cannot happen again."

He wondered: "I had a feeling you liked it, I didn´t push you into anything."

She said, with anger in her voice: "It was a mistake, I should have never gone to your flat. It was a wrong, considering the fact that….we cannot be together because you have your commitments…."

He looked at her shocked with her tone of speech and reacted: "What are you talking about? I´m as perfectly single as you are…."

He nervously took his hand through his hair and in any other situation Bella would have seen this as very cute.

But now her anger prevailed inside her and she thought: "I must end this immediately and leave."

She was just putting on her jacket: "Look, I know that you are engaged so don´t lie to me….I hate that…"

He stood up and said louder: "I have no clue what you are talking about….I… I have no commitments at all; my last relationship ended almost 10 months ago when I lived in Chicago. You are the first woman in Europe I have been with…."

Bella looked at him and frowned.

His angry tone surprised her and she was sure that leaving is the best solution.

She decided to tell him about her experience: "You could be at least sincere to me, I came to talk to you to your office and there I spoke to your fiancée. She told me you are engaged…and she had the ring…she was tall, thin, sexy, black hair woman…. And she wore red dress." She added…

He was looking at her with anger and desperate.

He felt bad because she didn´t trust his words.

That disappointed him a lot. He already thought that they could have nice relationship but now he knew that was over. But as the last attempt to save the situation he wanted to explain his version.

If she accepts it, that was a question but he felt he needed to do that: "Look, Bella, I don´t know what she told you or not, but Claire was in my office few days ago. I don´t know how she got inside but our engagement was cancelled when I broke up with her. We broke up because she was having an affair with her boss…."

He was angry but also felt sad. Relationship without mutual trust is no relationship.

He wanted to be sincere in all ways. But she really hurt him too. What did she think? That he just went to bed with her just to enjoy himself?

From the expression of her face he could guess that she didn´t want to hear his defence, she had already decided.

For her it was just one terrible mistake and now searching for the way to get out.

Bella watched him but couldn´t do anything, her mind didn´t allow her.

She didn´t trust him, she saw the beautiful woman and couldn´t forget about her. He told her that he is not engaged but her mind didn´t accept it. She saw the woman, she spoke to her.

Why would she lie? No, this was just mistake.

She picked her purse and said: "Carlisle, I´m sorry…. I knew what I saw…. You just wanted to get me and you did… victory….but I won´t be going on in this.."

He stared at her: "Bella? How can you say something like that?"

She just shrugged: "Sorry, I need to go now, it will be the best for both of us."

She opened the door, didn´t wait for him as he wanted to run to her.

She left immediately and run away. He opened the door and shouted at her: "When you get calmer, you´ll realise that I was right. I´m not engaged. When you realise this, you know where you can find me...

And he closed the door with anger in his voice and sorrow in his eyes.

This wasn´t supposed to happen this way.


End file.
